Comedian and actor Steve Martin’s foray into banjo music could easily have gone the way of countless other failed celebrities-turned-musicians, making him – as he put it during his show Tuesday at Wilkes-Barre’s F.M. Kirby Center -- “another Hollywood dilettante hitching a ride on the bluegrass gravy train.”

What has made the difference and allowed Martin to now stretch his dalliance to four years, three albums that all topped the bluegrass charts and a Grammy Award is that, even as a professional musician, he has remained largely what he has always been: a comedic performer.

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

Yes, Martin is a gifted and studied banjo player who obviously takes his craft seriously. But what drew most attention to Martin in his very entertaining, hour-and-55-minute show was his comedy, as he deftly relegated the heft of the music to his crack supporting band, The Steep Canyon Rangers.

The show also wisely added the talents of singer Edie Brickell, with whom Martin performed more than half the songs on their duet record, “Love Has Come for You,” released in April.

The combination of Martin, Brickell and the band gave the Wilkes-Barre crowd a sort of variety show that succeeded on all levels.

In a white coat not too far removed from the suit we word during his “Wild and Crazy” stand-up years, Martin employed the same absurdist humor, starting the show by saying it was “something I’ve dreamed of a long time: Playing bluegrass in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. And tonight I feel one step closer.”

Between songs he would offer similar asides, but the music put any idea the playing would be anything but great.

Martin quickly showed his prowess, playing intricately and impressively from the start. Early on, as if to demonstrate what he could do, he took off on a fast run that had the audience clapping along. And as a unit, he and The Rangers were surprisingly tight.

That was particularly true on the title track from 2009’s Grammy-winning disc “The Crow.” With Martin playing harmony banjo with The Rangers’ Graham Sharp, the song was textured, nuanced and lovely.

Brickell was a slower start. She was introduced on the fifth song, “Stray Dog,” on which she was OK, but her voice was barely recognizable and her talents – and presence -- seemed wasted. A couple of other songs during her two several-song stays on stage were similarly underwhelming: The novelty Martin duet “Yes She Does” and the later “Fighter.”

But when Brickell was good, she was very good – especially on “When You Get to Asheville.” Her plaintive voice over mournful fiddle, bowed bass and wonderfully understated banjo made the song the best of the night. The later “Love Has Come for You” was lovely, with knee-slap percussion, and “Sun’s Gonna Shine” offered by far her best singing.

The Rangers, though, were without exception great, and to the show’s benefit, Martin let them shine. On just the third song, “The Yellowback Fly,” he turned over lead banjo to Sharp and the microphone to guitarist Woody Platt, whose voice was surprisingly rich.

Martin even left the stage to give The Rangers a two-song solo set, and they absolutely shined – offering far more contemporary, almost jazzy, bluegrass that allowed for across-the-band solos. And then an a cappella reading of Wade Mainer’s gospel song “I Can’t Sit Down,” for which the harmonies were stunning.

Martin, of course, took the spotlight occasionally. He joined The Rangers for another a cappella number, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs,” on which he jokingly sang deliberately loud and off- key. He also sang the fun, joke-y pro-break-up song “Jubilation Day,” and, with Brickell, the new “Pretty Little One,” a humorous(!), and good, “murder ballad.”

The main set closed with an eight-minute “Audon’s Train” that was a blazing tour de force for Rangers fiddler Nicky Sanders that offered snippets of The Who, Lady Gaga and the “William Tell Overture.” It got a well-deserved, minute-long standing ovation.

The encore started nearly as good, with Martin and Sanders starting alone the sweet and sympathetic “The Dance at the Wedding” as the crowd clapped along and the rest of the Rangers joined them one by one.

Brickell came back for the second song, a tender “Remember Me This Way,” and then the show closed with the new “Pour Me Another Round” followed by “So Long Now.”

But Martin’s best performance came earlier, with him alone on stage. The band had left in a joke bit when he said, “The minute this stops being fun, we quit” – for “The Great Remember (For Nancy),” from his sophomore banjo album, “Rare Bird Alert.”

Martin’s playing was resounding and layered, and as good as any “traditional” professional.

Early on in the show, Martin had acknowledged his station in music – comparing his talent level on the banjo compared to career musicians, and aptly assessing the entertainment level of his show.

“A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Eric Clapton play,” Martin told the crowd. “And I thought, ‘He’s not so funny.’ ”

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JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.